DOCSLIB.ORG

Out of the Shadows: Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, and the Will to Persist

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Out of the Shadows: Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, and the Will to Persist City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works School of Arts & Sciences Theses Hunter College Spring 5-9-2017 Out of the Shadows: Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, and the Will to Persist Juella Baltonado CUNY Hunter College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/160 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Out of the Shadows Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, and the Will to Persist by Juella Baltonado Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Music, Hunter College The City University of New York 2017 Thesis Sponsor: May 9, 2017 Professor Catherine Coppola Date Signature May 9, 2017 Professor Michele Cabrini Date Signature of Second Reader 1 To my mentor, whose endless encouragement has given me the strength to persevere. 2 Acknowledgements This thesis is about two of the strongest women in the nineteenth century, whose brilliance overcame the impossible. Their strength and perseverance inspired this work, and I will take those qualities with me in all that I do. May this work help solidify their legacy, and bring them closer to the canon. I hope this work also serves to inspire women, young and young at heart, to never think that they have no place in the world, professional or otherwise. I would like to thank Professor Coppola, whose influence has led me down this path. I am forever indebted to the guidance that she provided from my undergraduate studies to my graduate thesis. I would also like to thank Professor Burke, rest his soul. His mindful encouragement is the very reason I applied to this program. The kindness of his heart, and the brilliance of his mind, forever lives through us, his students. To Professor Mueller, my deepest gratitude for the many years of laughter, music, and wisdom. Your presence has forever changed my and many others’ lives. Many thanks to Professor Cabrini. Your teaching and scholarship have set a great example for me and my colleagues. 3 Table of Contents Title Page 1 Dedication 2 Acknowledgements 3 Table of Contents 4 Title of Chapters 5 Introduction 6 I. Loss of Identity and Agency, 8 and the Will to Persevere II. Education 24 III. Mixed Messages and Gender Bias 32 IV. Credit Where Credit is Due 46 Conclusion 50 Works Cited 52 Bibliography 54 4 Chapters Introduction I. Loss of Identity and Agency, and the Will to Persevere II. Education III. Mixed Messages and Gender Bias IV. Credit Where Credit is Due 5 Introduction There is a default gender when discussing the identities of musician and composer, and this pre-conceived notion is an unspoken bias rooted in the history of discrimination against women in the music industry. The structural make-up of society dictated gender roles, which then played into the obstruction of women’s upward mobility. Even women of higher economic status were subject to prohibitive gender expectations, furthering the argument that gender was a key factor in the discrimination. However difficult the situations were for many women in nineteenth-century Germany, they still found ways to succeed in music. Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel were two formidable composers; however, many are unaware that these women composed or played music, let alone that they experienced discrimination and suppression based on their gender. Clara and Fanny, like most women in music, were barred from key opportunities that kept them from establishing their music as part of the canon. Too often, these historical composers have become almost invisible, and have remained in the shadows of their male counterparts. Due to their strong connection with these men, Fanny and Clara are the perfect subjects to help uncover the biases and discrimination that their gender brought them. This thesis will explore the issues Clara Wieck and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel faced that cut away at their identity and agency, and will reveal some of the ways in which both composers persevered. Second, it will contextualize one of the means of perseverance: education, uncovering how these women of differing financial standings were able to attain musical knowledge. Third, it will inspect a counterbalance to the hard-won education: the mixed messages that these women heard throughout their lives, pushing them to and away from being a musician or composer. It will also explore the gender biases that the women faced in their lives, 6 especially in the struggle to establish themselves as composers. Finally, the paper will discuss the implications of the roadblocks to perseverance in light of a new discovery of Fanny Mendelssohn’s music. 7 Loss of Identity and Agency, and the Will to Persist There is much data to suggest that throughout Clara Schumann’s life, she in some ways lost much of her own identity and agency, be it partially or entirely. This is not to say that Clara was hidden in the shadows in her own life. In fact, for much of it, she was under the spotlight, being one of the most prolific concert pianists of her time. However, in many instances her fate was controlled by those who held real power in the dynamic, most of whom were men. Her father provides the first example of this. Before she was even born, he decided she was to be his “ideal virtuoso piano pupil.”1 It is common for many parents to live vicariously through their children, projecting their dreams and unfulfilled goals onto their legacy. Though in the case of Clara, we see some particularly unnerving red flags. As a child, Clara was meek and barely spoke. In the diary Friedrich Wieck started for Clara when she was seven, he noted how she did not speak until she was over four years old. He claims she also understood very little, and that her self-absorbed disposition signaled that she was slightly deaf. The rumors of her slowness and deafness were common during her childhood.2 It seemed there was less talk and more music playing in her home as a child. Scholars like Anna Burton assume that perhaps her child development was stunted because of her training in music.3 She learned to read and write music before she learned how to speak her native tongue. This development issue did not resolve itself quickly by any means, as she was often left under the care of her maidservant, who spoke very little. What did develop, however, were her incredible musical abilities and a father-daughter relationship that was centered around Clara’s identity as a child prodigy. He trained her in formal music theory, from harmony and counterpoint to composition. She received instruction in voice, 1 Anna Burton, "Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck: A Creative Partnership," Music & Letters 69, no. 2 (1988): 214. 2 Nancy Reich, Clara Schumann, the Woman and the Artist (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987), 14. 3 Burton, 214. 8 violin, score reading, and orchestration.4 This childhood daily routine developed skills that even Robert Schumann would have yet to learn until after they married.5 A blatant loss of identity was evident in her diaries. Until Clara left her home at eighteen years of age, Friedrich Wieck supervised her every waking moment, writing in her diaries with her, and shockingly, sometimes even for her. This was not only a breach of privacy, but also a very literal loss of identity. As Clara’s main manager and teacher, her father often wrote in her diaries correspondence that pertained to business, seemingly to teach Clara how to go about managing correspondence and arranging concert tours.6 Whether the diary served as a tool for practical development or personal reflection, it was highly problematic for Friedrich to supervise Clara’s diaries, in that diaries are supposed to be private. In effect, a supervised diary not only disables any sort of autonomy, but also discourages any individuality in thought and personality. This level of supervision is tantamount to policing Clara’s thoughts and speech, as well as an insertion of propaganda. What becomes of this is not a formation or recording of one’s existence, but rather a mandated transference of personality and mindset. While it is likely that Clara’s success in her sixty-year career as a concert pianist is due in part to her father’s teachings, despite her success, one must step away from romanticizing her childhood. It is evident that Clara had very little to say in her fate in music. Friedrich had decided everything for her. This trend carried on even after Clara had left her father, as Robert replaced her father’s paradoxical role as both a controlling and encouraging figure. It is well known that no musical union could compare to that of Clara and Robert. The two studied and played music often. They sought each other’s opinion on pieces they played, 4 Nancy B. Reich, Clara Schumann, the Artist and the Woman (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987), 212. 5 Reich, 215. 6 Nancy Reich and Anna Burton, “Clara Schumann: Old Sources, New Readings,” The Musical Quarterly 70, no. 3 (1984): 335-336. 9 pieces they composed, and those that they heard. Robert carried the torch as Clara’s main source of encouragement when she left her father’s home. From the moment they petitioned the courts to grant them their marriage, he acted as a gateway to her liberation. This was the first real step away from her father’s total control.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Recasting Gender
    RECASTING GENDER: 19TH CENTURY GENDER CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE LIVES AND WORKS OF ROBERT AND CLARA SCHUMANN A Thesis Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Music Shelley Smith August, 2009 RECASTING GENDER: 19TH CENTURY GENDER CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE LIVES AND WORKS OF ROBERT AND CLARA SCHUMANN Shelley Smith Thesis Approved: Accepted: _________________________________ _________________________________ Advisor Dean of the College Dr. Brooks Toliver Dr. James Lynn _________________________________ _________________________________ Faculty Reader Dean of the Graduate School Mr. George Pope Dr. George R. Newkome _________________________________ _________________________________ School Director Date Dr. William Guegold ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. THE SHAPING OF A FEMINIST VERNACULAR AND ITS APPLICATION TO 19TH-CENTURY MUSIC ..............................................1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 The Evolution of Feminism .....................................................................................3 19th-Century Gender Ideologies and Their Encoding in Music ...............................................................................................................8 Soundings of Sex ...................................................................................................19 II. ROBERT & CLARA SCHUMANN: EMBRACING AND DEFYING TRADITION
    [Show full text]
  • PROGRAM NOTES Franz Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 in a Major
    PROGRAM NOTES by Phillip Huscher Franz Liszt Born October 22, 1811, Raiding, Hungary. Died July 31, 1886, Bayreuth, Germany. Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major Liszt composed this concerto in 1839 and revised it often, beginning in 1849. It was first performed on January 7, 1857, in Weimar, by Hans von Bronsart, with the composer conducting. The first American performance was given in Boston on October 5, 1870, by Anna Mehlig, with Theodore Thomas, who later founded the Chicago Symphony, conducting his own orchestra. The orchestra consists of three flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, cymbals, and strings. Performance time is approximately twenty-two minutes. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first subscription concert performances of Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto were given at the Auditorium Theatre on March 1 and 2, 1901, with Leopold Godowsky as soloist and Theodore Thomas conducting. Our most recent subscription concert performances were given at Orchestra Hall on March 19, 20, and 21, 2009, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist and Jaap van Zweden conducting. The Orchestra first performed this concerto at the Ravinia Festival on August 4, 1945, with Leon Fleisher as soloist and Leonard Bernstein conducting, and most recently on July 3, 1996, with Misha Dichter as soloist and Hermann Michael conducting. Liszt is music’s misunderstood genius. The greatest pianist of his time, he often has been caricatured as a mad, intemperate virtuoso and as a shameless and
    [Show full text]
  • THE VIRTUOSO UNDER SUBJECTION: HOW GERMAN IDEALISM SHAPED the CRITICAL RECEPTION of INSTRUMENTAL VIRTUOSITY in EUROPE, C. 1815 A
    THE VIRTUOSO UNDER SUBJECTION: HOW GERMAN IDEALISM SHAPED THE CRITICAL RECEPTION OF INSTRUMENTAL VIRTUOSITY IN EUROPE, c. 1815–1850 A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Zarko Cvejic August 2011 © 2011 Zarko Cvejic THE VIRTUOSO UNDER SUBJECTION: HOW GERMAN IDEALISM SHAPED THE CRITICAL RECEPTION OF INSTRUMENTAL VIRTUOSITY IN EUROPE, c. 1815–1850 Zarko Cvejic, Ph. D. Cornell University 2011 The purpose of this dissertation is to offer a novel reading of the steady decline that instrumental virtuosity underwent in its critical reception between c. 1815 and c. 1850, represented here by a selection of the most influential music periodicals edited in Europe at that time. In contemporary philosophy, the same period saw, on the one hand, the reconceptualization of music (especially of instrumental music) from ―pleasant nonsense‖ (Sulzer) and a merely ―agreeable art‖ (Kant) into the ―most romantic of the arts‖ (E. T. A. Hoffmann), a radically disembodied, aesthetically autonomous, and transcendent art and on the other, the growing suspicion about the tenability of the free subject of the Enlightenment. This dissertation‘s main claim is that those three developments did not merely coincide but, rather, that the changes in the aesthetics of music and the philosophy of subjectivity around 1800 made a deep impact on the contemporary critical reception of instrumental virtuosity. More precisely, it seems that instrumental virtuosity was increasingly regarded with suspicion because it was deemed incompatible with, and even threatening to, the new philosophic conception of music and via it, to the increasingly beleaguered notion of subjective freedom that music thus reconceived was meant to symbolize.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pedagogical Legacy of Johann Nepomuk Hummel
    ABSTRACT Title of Document: THE PEDAGOGICAL LEGACY OF JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL. Jarl Olaf Hulbert, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Directed By: Professor Shelley G. Davis School of Music, Division of Musicology & Ethnomusicology Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), a student of Mozart and Haydn, and colleague of Beethoven, made a spectacular ascent from child-prodigy to pianist- superstar. A composer with considerable output, he garnered enormous recognition as piano virtuoso and teacher. Acclaimed for his dazzling, beautifully clean, and elegant legato playing, his superb pedagogical skills made him a much sought after and highly paid teacher. This dissertation examines Hummel’s eminent role as piano pedagogue reassessing his legacy. Furthering previous research (e.g. Karl Benyovszky, Marion Barnum, Joel Sachs) with newly consulted archival material, this study focuses on the impact of Hummel on his students. Part One deals with Hummel’s biography and his seminal piano treatise, Ausführliche theoretisch-practische Anweisung zum Piano- Forte-Spiel, vom ersten Elementar-Unterrichte an, bis zur vollkommensten Ausbildung, 1828 (published in German, English, French, and Italian). Part Two discusses Hummel, the pedagogue; the impact on his star-students, notably Adolph Henselt, Ferdinand Hiller, and Sigismond Thalberg; his influence on musicians such as Chopin and Mendelssohn; and the spreading of his method throughout Europe and the US. Part Three deals with the precipitous decline of Hummel’s reputation, particularly after severe attacks by Robert Schumann. His recent resurgence as a musician of note is exemplified in a case study of the changes in the appreciation of the Septet in D Minor, one of Hummel’s most celebrated compositions.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Consequences of Presumed Innocence: the Nineteenth-Century Reception of Joseph Haydn1 Leon Botstein
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-58052-6 - Haydn Studies Edited by W. Dean Sutcliffe Excerpt More information 1 The consequences of presumed innocence: the nineteenth-century reception of Joseph Haydn1 leon botstein 1 The Haydn paradox: from engaged affection to distant respect The mystery that plagues the contemporary conception and recep- tion of Haydn and his music has a long and remarkably unbroken history. Perhaps Haydn experienced the misfortune (an ironic one when one con- siders the frequency of premature deaths among his great contemporaries or near contemporaries) of living too long.Years before his death in 1809 he was considered so old that the French and English had already presumed him dead in 1805.2 Many wrote condolence letters and a Requiem Mass was planned in Paris. Haydn’s music was both familiar and venerated. Raphael Georg Kiesewetter (1773–1850), writing in Vienna in 1846, reflected the perspective of the beginning of the nineteenth century in his Geschichte der europaeisch-abendlaendischen oder unsrer heutigen Musik. Haydn had ‘ele- vated all of instrumental music to a never before anticipated level of perfec- tion’. Haydn had a ‘perfect knowledge of instrumental effects’ and with Mozart (for whom Haydn was the ‘example and ideal’) created a ‘new school which may be called the German or ...the “Viennese”school’.Theirs was the ‘golden age’ of music. Most significantly, Haydn’s instrumental works represented the standard of what was ‘true beauty’in music.3 Lurking beneath Kiesewetter’s praise of Haydn (and his discreet expressions of doubt about the novelties of Haydn’s successors, including 1 This essay is an expanded and revised form of my essay entitled ‘The Demise of Philosophical Listening’, in Elaine Sisman, ed., Haydn and his World (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), pp.
    [Show full text]
  • City Research Online
    City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Pace, I. (2012). Instrumental performance in the nineteenth century. In: Lawson, C. and Stowell, R. (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Musical Performance. (pp. 643-695). Cambridge University Press. This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/6305/ Link to published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521896115.027 Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] C:/ITOOLS/WMS/CUP-NEW/2654833/WORKINGFOLDER/LASL/9780521896115C26.3D 643 [643–695] 5.9.2011 7:13PM . 26 . Instrumental performance in the nineteenth century IAN PACE 1815–1848 Beethoven, Schubert and musical performance in Vienna from the Congress until 1830 As a major centre with a long tradition of performance, Vienna richly reflects
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Ludwig Van Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 111
    Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC Research Papers Graduate School Fall 11-4-2011 A STUDY OF LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S PIANO SONATA OP. 111, ROBERT SCHUMANN’S OP.6 AND MAURICE RAVEL’S JEUX D’EAU Ji Hyun Kim [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/gs_rp Recommended Citation Kim, Ji Hyun, "A STUDY OF LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S PIANO SONATA OP. 111, ROBERT SCHUMANN’S OP.6 AND MAURICE RAVEL’S JEUX D’EAU" (2011). Research Papers. Paper 174. http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/gs_rp/174 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Papers by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A STUDY OF LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S PIANO SONATA OP. 111, ROBERT SCHUMANN’S OP.6 AND MAURICE RAVEL’S JEUX D’EAU by JI HYUN KIM B.M., CHUNG- ANG University, 2006 A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Music Degree School of Music in the Graduate School Southern Illinois University Carbondale November 2011 RESEARCH PAPER APPROVAL A STUDY OF LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S PIANO SONATA OP. 111, ROBERT SCHUMANN’S OP.6 AND MAURICE RAVEL’S JEUX D’EAU By JI HYUN KIM A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Music in the field of Piano Performance Approved by: Dr. Junghwa Lee, Chair Dr. Eric Mandat Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Preußische Bildnisse Des 19. Jahrhunderts
    November 1981 Monats Anze · ge Nr. 8 Viktorin Drassegg, der 1782 in 1815 endlich in Bregenz landete, Namen zu signieren. Das ausge­ Mähren geboren wurde, eine ziem­ wo er, um einer Bestrafung als stellte Instrument, das durch seine lich abenteuerliche militärische Deserteur zu entgehen, sich zu­ hübschen Zargen und seinen Bo­ Laufbahn durchmachte, in Italien in nächst Friedrich Grünwald nannte. den aus Vogelahorn auffällt, trägt französische Kriegsgefangenschaft Nach kurzer Zeit fing er an , seine das Datum 1833. geriet und nach vielen Umtrieben Instrumente mit seinem eigenen John Henry van der Meer Preußische Bildnisse des 19. Jahrhunderts Ausstellung im Germanischen Nationalmuseum vom 30. 10. 1981 bis 3. 1. 1982 Als einzigartiges Zeugnis preußi­ scher Geschichte im 19. Jahr­ hundert bewahrt die Berliner Natio­ nalgalerie die Porträtssammlung des Malers Wilhelm Hensel. Der zu seiner Zeit geschätzte Porträt- und Historienmaler hatte es sich zum Ziel gesetzt, mit den Bildnissen bedeutender Zeitgenossen zu­ gleich ein Porträt seiner Epoche zu schaffen. über 1000 Bleistiftzeich­ nungen, gesammelt in 46 Alben, fügten sich schließlich bei seinem Tod 1861 zu einem lebendigen und überaus facettenreichen Bild der historisch entscheidenden Jahre zwischen den Befreiungskriegen und der Reichsgründung. Die Ak­ teure dieses widerspruchsvollen und ereignisreichen Kapitels preußischer Geschichte, Vertreter der Politik und des Militärs, des Hofes und des Bürgertums, der Kunst und der Wissenschaft sind in dieser kunst- und kulturhistorisch reizvollen Sammlung vereint. Na­ men wie E.T.A. Hoffmann und Wilhelm Hensel, Bildnis E.T.A. Hoffmann Wilhelm 1., Heinrich Heine und Friedrich von Savigny, Hegel und Ranke kennzeichnen die histori­ sche und geistige Spannweite, die letzten Getreuen Friedrich Wil­ heitsideal, die Mode und die Ge­ der Künstler zu fassen vermochte.
    [Show full text]
  • “Müde Bin Ich, Geh' Zur Ruh”: the Story of a Children's Prayer
    REFLECTION “Müde bin ich, geh’ zur Ruh”: The Story of a Children’s Prayer Margaret Loewen Reimer The children’s prayer, Müde bin ich, geh’ zur Ruh, is dear to the heart of many Mennonites who grew up in German-speaking homes. A recent request for an English translation sent me on a quest to discover what was available. The translations I found were unsatisfactory, and so I resumed work on my own translation, which I had begun years ago. Meanwhile, I decided to trace the origins of this classic little prayer. The search uncovered a surprisingly rich story. Müde bin ich first appeared in a songbook for nursery school children compiled by Theodor Fliedner in Kaiserswerth, Germany in 1842.1 That is why the tune is sometimes identified as “Kaiserswerth” or “Fliedner.” It is likely that the melody is based on a popular folk tune, as are many familiar hymns. The words were written by Luise Hensel (1798-1876), a widely-read religious poet and hymn writer, and a woman who led a remarkable life.2 Hensel’s father was a Lutheran pastor in Brandenburg. Her brother, well- known painter Wilhelm Hensel, was married to Fanny Mendelssohn, sister of Felix. After the death of her father in 1809, Luise moved to Berlin with her mother. Here she captured the attention of several remarkable men. Romantic poet Clemens Brentano acknowledged her influence on his poetry and apparently shared with composer Ludwig Berger an unrequited love for Luise. Another poet, Wilhelm Müller, was also attracted to her. Today, Müller is remembered for his Waldhornisten poems, which Franz Schubert set to music in his song cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise.
    [Show full text]
  • Bach's St. Matthew Passion
    “It was an actor and a Jew who restored this great Christian work to the people.” - Felix Mendelssohn Bach’s Great Passion: A Reintroduction In 1829, a young Jewish musician (already on the path to create his own compositional legacy) reintroduced Berlin to Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterpiece, the Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Evangelistam Matthæum, also known as the Matthäus-Passion, The Passion According to St. Matthew, or simply, The St. Matthew Passion. Ten years earlier, that musician - Felix Mendelssohn - began taking composition lessons from the director of the Berlin Singakademie, Carl Friedrich Zelter. Through this relationship, Mendelssohn would learn to love the music of Bach. Zelter himself had conducted quiet performances of a handful of the German master’s choral works at the Singakademie: a motet here, some cantata movements there. Even some of the choruses from the Passion were read at his rooms at the Singakademie. He was, however, of the opinion that these larger works were not suitable for public performance in their entirety. Still, running against the predominant tastes of the day, that Bach’s music was, according to one early 20th-century scholar, as “dry as a lesson in arithmetic,” the self-taught Zelter (he was a mason by trade), infused his love of Bach in his favorite student. In 1820, Mendelssohn joined the Singakademie as a choral singer and accompanist. His father, Abraham, had given a collection of Bach scores to its library and had been an earlier supporter of the Berlin musical institution. Earlier, Felix’s grand-aunt, Sarah Levy (who studied with J.
    [Show full text]
  • Fanny Mendelssohn
    The Akron Symphony Meet the Composer - Fanny Mendelssohn Born: November 14, 1805 Died: May 14, 1847 Fanny Mendelssohn was a German pianist and composer and the older sister of the well-known composer, Felix Mendelssohn. The two siblings were very close. She received a quality musical education, first taking piano les- sons from her mother and later studying piano and composition with other teachers. Due to social conventions of the time re- garding the roles of women, some of her compositions were published under her brother’s name. Fanny’s works were often played alongside those of her brother on the family’s Sunday concert series. In 1829, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel. Her husband was sup- portive and encouraging of her musical work. Before her death Fanny Mendelssohn she composed more than 460 pieces of music, mostly songs and piano pieces. In 1846, a collection of her songs was published. Since the 1980s her works have become better known through performances and recordings. In May 2018, the Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn Museum was opened in Hamburg, Germany. The Piano The piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy around 1700. There were several innovations to the instrument during the 1800s. These include a cast iron frame and the use of aliquot strings (unstruck strings that reinforce the tone). These innovations gave the instrument a more powerful sound. During this time the family piano played a similar role to that of the radio in the 19th century. The family would frequently gather around the instrument for an enjoyable musical evening. Timeline 1805 - Fanny Mendelssohn is born in Hamburg, Germany 1807 – Lord Nelson defeats the combined French and Spanish fleets in the Battle of Trafalgar 1809 – Mary Kies becomes the first woman in the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Maria Szymanowska and the Evolution of Professional Pianism by Slawomir Dobrzanski
    Maria Szymanowska and the Evolution of Professional Pianism by Slawomir Dobrzanski Today's pianists, preoccupied with a grueling daily regimen of scales, arpeggios, etudes, etc. and equipped with an enormous piano repertoire ranging from Rameau through Chopin to Ligeti, rarely spend much time thinking about who created their profession. In fact, most piano connoisseurs and historians rarely venture beyond the early 20th century, or, more specifically, beyond the start of the Recording Era. Nevertheless, the evolution of professional pianism remains a fascinating area of inquiry. For instance, what, we may ask, are the differences and similarities between early 19th century pianists and the pianists of our time? The life and career of Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831), one of the first pianists "(to take) Europe by storm," provides surprisingly good source material for the making of such comparisons. In contrast to that of today's pianists, Maria Szymanowska's musical education did not take place at any official music school. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, public music education in Warsaw was still in its infancy (the first professional music school there opened only in 1809); secondly, such education was at the time inaccessible to women. Given such circumstances, Szymanowska's piano instruction took place at her home in Warsaw, with two unknown piano teachers, Lisowski and Gremm. It is widely assumed that she took advice from Chopin's teacher, Józef Elsner, from Karol Kurpinski, conductor of the National Theatre, and from Chopin's organ teacher Franciszek Lessel, a student of Haydn. Maria's parents, following their daughter's unusual interest in music, began inviting renowned musicians into their home whenever such artists performed in Warsaw.
    [Show full text]